F1: Ferrari Wins First Monaco GP Since 2001, 1-2 Podium Finish

Ferrari has won its first Monaco GP since 2001 after a flawless race from both Vettel and Raikkonen who finished first and second respectively. The two drivers managed to stay on top of the field despite Raikkonen losing P1 to his teammate, thanks to a race changing strategy that benefited the German in the final half. Ricciardo saw an opportunity of an overcut and stole P3 from Bottas, a position he never relinquished till chequered flag.

Mercedes failed to score a podium today, Bottas had the best finish while Hamilton came home in P7 after starting from P13.

Everyone started on ultrasofts bar the Saubers who opted for supersofts. Alonso was kind to send some good wishes to Button, “Jenson my friend, i’m sure you wanted to hear my voice before the race, take care of my car.” and Button was quick to reply, “Thank you, i’m going to pee in your seat.”

And the Monaco GP 2017 was off to a good start, Raikkonen retained the lead while Vettel held onto P2, Bottas in third while the two Red Bulls behind battled their way through. Wehrlein and Button pitted almost immediately, with Wehrlein switching from supersofts to ultrasofts while the McLaren did the opposite.

Hamilton started from 13th but jumped to 12th on lap one, he couldn’t however find his way around Kvyat in the Toro Rosso ahead. Bono, his race engineer assured him that their race would come later. In the meantime, Raikkonen and Vettel were just exchanging fastest lap times as Ferrari continued to edge away.

Perez had to get a new front wing as he was running on a damaged one, scraping the surface. Hulkenberg became the first retirement on lap 16 after his Renault began to smoke from behind in what turned out to be a gearbox problem. Yellow flags flew in the following lap to clear the unfortunate Renault. Hamilton meanwhile managed to move into tenth place during that shunt.

By lap 47, Hamilton had moved to P7 after making his stop and switching into supersofts, the top ten comprised of Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Grosjean, Kvyat and Vandoorne. Vettel’s lead over second placed Raikkonen was up to 11 seconds.

Monaco GP 2017

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A thrilling battle unfolded between Sainz in P6 and Hamilton right behind him, with the Mercedes getting within 1s of the Toro Rosso, but this was cut short by the intervention of a safety car when the Sauber of Wehrlein crashed heavily on lap 61. Verstappen was swift to pit under the safety car. Button also retired in the process as his car was caught up in the Sauber incident.

While still running behind the safety cars, lapped cars were given a go ahead to overtake the field but Ericsson ended up crashing while trying to pass the very safety car. That was the second and final Sauber to retire.

The safety car intervention ended on lap 67/78, and upon restart, Ricciardo tagged the barriers at Ste Devote while battling with Bottas. Vandoorne also went off at the same point which was now proving to be a challenge for many drivers.

Even more drama on lap 74 when Perez and Kvyat made contact at Rascasse, forcing Kvyat to retire and Perez to pit for a new wing. Stroll also retired after complaining of braking temperatures for some time. By lap 75, there were only 13 cars left on the field. In the meantime, Vettel held a 5s lead over Raikkonen.

Vettel went ahead to win the Monaco GP 2017, staging a 1-2 finish with teammate Raikkonen. Ricciardo was third on the podium for Red Bull.